Flames and putting on their big boy uniforms.

As I mentioned in my last post I was really fortunate
to attend a Flames Season Ticket Holders Luncheon
with a co-worker (who has great season tickets) this afternoon.

The highlight was listening to Ken King (President of the Flames)
speak. Now, I do have a little issue with him as he was
pretty hard on pj wearing, basement dwelling bloggers
and their backseat coaching but as I am not in my basement,
(but am wearing pajamas)
and there is no way my faithful readers are interested
in hockey talk I think 1 out of 3
will keep me out of his blogger doghouse.

Anyways, his blogger issues aside
I found his talk fascinating. Now, there
was no earth shattering revelations about
the inner workings of the team and most of
the things he said were "top secret" I knew
from the media/the dreaded twitterers
but I appreciated his honesty about the
fact they made mistakes and any decisions
that were made (right or wrong) were
because they were convinced that the structure
was in place for the Flames to win.

It didn't work.

They know that, we know that.

now what?

well this is where it gets intriguing.

There are changes in the air.
Of course that top secret info was not shared.

However, one way or the other,
win or lose this season
the summer will bring changes and
it appears it is time to shake up the system.

Now at the risk of ending up in the
King Blogger doghouse and losing
my non-hockey readers,
I offer this unsolicited advise:

Do not give up on this year until
it is done. Just because it is tough
don't take the easy way out and
trade, blow up the team etc...

Instead, tell the team to put on their big boy uniforms
get out there, face the adversity, work with what they have
and get the job done. End of Story, no excuses..

then in the Summer, do what needs to be done
but until then....Get er done.

that's it, all I will say on the subject.

One last thing though from his talk,
it is interesting to me that one of the issues
the Flames organizations has, is a lack of culture.
The need to find, define and implement what they
want their team culture to be is a priority.

This is something I know we struggle with in my office
and I would think most companies would agree that it is
an ongoing issue.

It goes to support what I have felt for the last 3 years
is that the problem with the Flames is not the talent or the age of the team
but an issue with the dynamics of the team and instead of
spending time spinning the wheels on getting more/different talent
we (the Flames) need to concentrate on the mental aspect and
adapt this motto from the great cinematic classic, High School Musical ...

Get your, Get your, head in the game.

3/365 - the anti-one little word

Ali Edwards, a very talented illustrator of her world

using photography and writing chooses "one little word" every January

that will inspire and guide her throughout the upcoming year.

She has thousands of followers who carefully choose their own "olw (one little word)".

Please go here for more information on this wonderful project.

I choose a word each year but in past years I have not really done much with it other

than choosing it. This time, I am going to treat my "olw" differently. I have

narrowed it down to two and will share shortly.

However, this post is not about what my word is but rather what it will not be...

my anti one little word for 2011 is "mediocrity"

If it is possible to dislike a word with all your might

this is it.

I don't like the way it is spelt,

I dislike saying it

and I am 100% against everything it stands for.

ok, Dee-Ann, we have followed you to this point

but what in the world does your picture of the Flames

and your rambling about words have anything to do

with each other?

The Flames lost tonight 5-2 to a team that

they should have beaten.

They looked awful. The game was boring.

There was no jump in their step.

No sense of urgency.

They embraced mediocrity.

Never mind that the fans expect more

for their well earned dollars they have spent to

support their team,

more importantly the players need to

expect more from themselves and each other.

As I sat watching my team tonight,

I couldn't stop thinking about how

sad it is that a group of 25+ individuals,

who at face value, seem to want for nothing,

could play with such casualness and mediocrity.

Leave it all on the ice and lose,

I am absolutely ok with.

Not showing up and putting in half the effort,

never ok.

Therefore I will suggest to the Flames that

they change their "OLW" from "Mediocrity"

to "Unacceptable".

Unacceptable to do your job half arse (because you and me would be fired if we didn't perform)

Unacceptable to place the blame elsewhere (it is not the coach (or your boss) or your co-workers issue, you own it)

Unacceptable to not take ownership of your own individual play.

Unacceptable to embrace mediocrity.

Leave it on the ice (or floor, or boardroom, or desk - whichever applies)

all the time.

This is how I am trying to live my life everyday

and my children (and their friends) have certainly heard

the above more than once.

What is your anti-one little word?

and as well, what would you choose as your one little word (OLW)? That one word to inspire and guide you for the next 362 days?

numbers Tuesday is dropping it like it's hot...

with the # 258 and the return of FLAMES hockey

I won tickets for tonight's first pre-season game from a local radio station

not the prize I was going for which was for lower bowl tickets

and a chance to win seats on the Flames charter flight to Saskatoon

which in retrospect was probably a good thing for the Flames

as I am sure I would have talked their ears off and

been a "titch" of a fan-arazzi.

I may not have won that but I

still got 2 tickets (2nd balcony/end of the rink),

took an Oilers fan with me (Lawrence my brother in law)

& we had a great time

We may have lost (4-1) and looked rough at times

but I was just so happy to be back

and I'm more than ready to get this season going

now I know I have lost 99% of my readers

as soon as they saw the word "FLAMES"

but for you that stuck it out to the end,

thanks and you can look forward to a few more

Flames postings - hopefully it will be a very long season.

will it help...I doubt it

but Kaeden and I thought we would try

& bring the Flames some luck

with a little message to the oilers...

we will crush you

~ I highly doubt it will help us, but at least Kaeden got to crush a cookie and he had a great time

~ a big thanks to Krista for the cookies, I couldn't seem to find them anywhere and she bought me a couple packages. 

No need to panic!!

Wings cruise to easy win over Flames

Robin McCall: I think the important thing is not to make it look like we're panicking.
President Andrew Shepherd: See, and I think the important thing is actually not to BE panicking.

~quote from one of my all time favourite movies - "An American President"